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Summary: Insider's telling look inside the Bush White House
Review: Having read Bush at War and Fighting Back, both expertly written books by journalist from an outsider's perspective, I was looking for a more prescient account from someone within the Bush White House. I found that David Frum, although a Canadian national, definitively delineates the inner workings of the White House from the day after the Clintons notoriously vandalized The White House well through the war on terror. Frum writes how, much to his surprise, he was chosen as a presidential speech writer, despite having written unfavorable newspaper articles reproaching Bush amidst the primary and throughout the election. Frum, infamously renowned for coining the now ominous "axis of evil" anecdote in Bush's State of the Union Address, comes across as a very intelligent conservative, one who doesn't mince words, and it is this refreshing candor that makes The Right Man a compelling and entertaining read.One rather funny account is told by Frum when, at a conference with the Hollywood elite, Barbara Streisand accuses Bush of "flip-flopping on emissions standards" due to the "campaign contributions he got from Enron." To which, Frum succinctly retorts, "This guy's not for sale, you know - not like the last one." Bravo. I couldn't help but laugh.
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Summary: WHO IS THE RIGHT MAN? FRUM OR BUSH
Review: The book seemed more about Frum than Bush. Granted some of the insight into the White House needed his point of view, but I didn't buy this book to learn about the daily workings of a speechwrite. I recommend BUSH AT WAR before this!
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Summary: Won't Convert Many
Review: Here is the deal, if you have made your mind up before reading this book (or pretty much anything) then don't bother. Life is too short to waste your time like that. On the other hand, if you find yourself curious about what GW is like behind the scenes, if you want to separate hype from person, or if you are just interested in what someone a LOT closer to the president than you are has to say about working with him - go for it. It isn't a particularly difficult read, in fact in many ways it seems to mirror the Bush Presidency - plain english, straightforward concepts. Like it or hate it is up to you. For my money I enjoyed it, laughed more than a couple of times and would recommend it to all save the 'radical left' crowd that seem to almost mindlessly hate the President (and often times, America itself).
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Summary: Should be required reading
Review: At last! A book from the inside to tell it how it really is. Frum's review of the "inside facts", hidden to us by the left-wing media, lay to rest the anti-Bush ... circulating in our country and in Europe at this time. Frum does not admire the president without reserve, but his final conclusion is that Bush is doing the right thing and those that criticize probably have an ulterior motive.
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Summary: Good, but not as good as FIGHTING BACK
Review: Maybe my mistake was reading THE RIGHT MAN immediately after I finished Bill Sammon's FIGHTING BACK. The latter is so thrilling and enjoyable that even a good book like THE RIGHT MAN pales in comparison. But no, wait--that's not accurate. While Mr. Frum's book is at times fast-paced and exciting, there are whole chapters (like the one entitled "The Religion of Peace") that are slow and difficult to get through. I found myself putting this book down repeatedly, while Mr. Sammon's book hardly ever left my grasp. FIGHTING BACK is in a different league. It stands alone as a heart-stopping narrative of what was going on behind the scenes and in front of the cameras on that day of infamy, September 11, 2001, and in the months that followed. THE RIGHT MAN, however, is an often tedious account of one man's view of life inside the White House.
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Summary: Comment of "Objective & Accurate" reviewer.
Review: The review written by Kyle ...should not be used as a deciding factor when purchasing this book. The Junto Society claims to be "a place where you can depend on learning the facts, not the political spin on the issues" however the website is so ultra-conservative in content that there is nothing left but spin. They "encourage you to sign the petitions that we support on this site, and to email your representatives regarding upcoming votes". How is that a place where you can depend on learning the facts without political spin when only one viewpoint is given?
As for the book, I don't think anyone will come away with the notion that George Jr. is anything more than they thought he was before reading the book. It's not an in-depth study of the man or the office. How can anyone decide that Jr. is "The Right Man" based on this book? Simple. They can't. This book would be more useful on your coffee table as a coaster instead of reading material.
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Summary: Bush Hater Finds Much To Admire
Review: When I brought this books home to read, many of my family and friends thought I was nuts. Given my politics, and knowing how much I loathe George Bush, they were sure that I had gone over the deep end. Perhaps they thought I was looking for more salacious dirt or further proof of my insistence that "this man" should be run out of office fast. In reality, I wanted to understand George Bush better and this book provides that information. The book is not a balanced affair. Though Frum does have moments of very minor criticisms, he seems to overlook basic facts or inconsistencies of logic within the Bush administration so as to not to paint a too unflattering world. This lack of "reporting" also extends to the many accusations made of Clinton and his presidential decisions or actions in office. Because of this lack of truth telling, I found myself increasingly not trusting Frum?s analysis or opinions of a certain event. In most cases, Frum?s desire to stay conservative and/or remain loyal to Bush seems to overshadow what should have been a more evenly told narrative. But the book does shed some light on many of Bush's admirable qualities. He does run a "tight ship" and when he is committed to something, he stays the course. Qualities of leadership that is hard to dismiss and not appreciate. Though I still feel that Bush is not "the right man" for the job based on his decisions on policy, I do walk away after reading this book that he does believe in what he is doing. I may fault him on his choices, but I cannot fault him on his passion or commitment; and isn't that what we look for in a politician these days?
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Summary: Response to "Islamophobia" Review
Review: Simply put, this book is 384 (boring) pages of propaganda. What I want to quickly take issue with though is not the book but the comments in the review "Islamophobia." It is ridiculous and frankly, offensive, to suggest that any writings about Islam and its adherents by Jews would be automatically biased simply because of the religion of the writers. Similarly, it is just plain incorrect to assume that no German writer could ever compose an insightful piece about Jews. Not all Germans are Nazis and not all Jews hate Islam. Now, if you feel that the content is unfarily critical that's a whole different story, but you would never know that unless you bothered to pick up the book and read it and not just make prejudicial assumptions based on nothing but ignorance.
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Summary: Review of David Frum's book, The Right Man:
Review: Strengths:* Gives us a better insight into the flavor and direction of the second Bush Administration* Seems to give a decent insight into the character of George W. Bush as president* Provides excellent insight into the presidential speech writing process. * Includes a few genuinely funny touches of humor. Mr. Frum's response to his wife on 9/11 and his immediate actions before the evacuation of the White House is hysterical. Unfortunately, there are too few of these moments. (p 114-5)* The author isn't afraid to provide into a few of his own snafu's.* Correctly defines the president as the right man because of 9/11, not because of his domestic policies. The author doesn't try to cover for Bush's failures with the Senate. Although he does tend to lay the blame on Daschle for not helping get the tax cuts through easier. Weaknesses: * While the author gives a flavor of the character of the president by using personal experience as his guide. We are all too often treated to uninformed character comments of those who differed from the president at some time. Sen. Jim Jeffords - "...weak and vain..." (p 95)Gray Davis - "...Davis at last shook off his passivity and boldly went looking for somebody to blame. He nominated Bush."Colin Powell - "...and Colin Powell would rush to complain to his friends in the press that he had been affronted and insulted." (p 280)* The author makes some absurd comparisons between Powell & Rumsfield's war policies to McClellan and Grant. Perhaps the author would be better off to make such comparisons after the long-term effects of the current administration's policies have played out. * Lack of supporting documentation makes the book weak.* The author uses polls as argument justifications inappropriately.* Use of statistics is very flimsy. He crudely estimates that every airline passenger's time is worth...and that forcing them to wait an extra 1/2 hour in line is costing us millions. Huh?* Chapter 9 Religion of Peace is very weak. The author spends 13 pages describing how conservative elites felt about his approach to the Muslim community after 9/11. He really got off-topic here and should have kept closer tabs on what Bush was doing to unify the community. General Impressions
I picked up this book hoping to find some insight into our president from someone who didn't support Bush right away as per what the jacket blurb said. But sadly, the author spends too much time in his own political opinions to really make the book carry much weight. The lack of a cited references section alone should clue the reader in that this isn't a very scholarly work. Sadly and finally, it was obvious that the author wasn't privy to very many high-level meetings among senior staffers. Look in the indices and you'll see Karen Hughes referenced about as much as Powell, Rice Rumsfeld put together. Paul Wolfowitz is mentioned in name only.The book is not worth the time.
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Summary: Another Dink Stover in the White House
Review: David Frum is a skilled but disingenuous writer. This book ostensibly is about George W. Bush, but Frum admits that he seldom saw him, and it's more of a wide-margin "Washington memoir," of the type that clutters remainder shelves. The cover photo tells more than perhaps was intended, of ShrubCo himself with a bullhorn--a man with no words of his own, amplifying the words written for him by a bullpen of a dozen writers, among whom Frum served for about a year. He patronizes his boss a bit, but also appears to have been briefly dazzled by helping ghostwrite the BMOC's term papers. Though Frum refers to George W. Bush as a "surprise" president, there's no surprise to it at all: Having lost the popular vote, he scraped into office with a 5-4 vote from the Supreme Court. Not one of the Supreme Court justices is mentioned in this short, glib book--check the index. Conversely, a brief exchange with Barbra Streisand (in which Babs comes off surprisingly well) occupies two pages. Frum probably is best known to the outside-the-Beltway masses as one of the authors of Shrub's notorious "Axis of Evil" speech. When his wife disclosed this fact "with wifely pride" in an e-mail to "family and friends," some "friend" leaked the news to SLATE. Though Frum insists that he'd been intending to resign all along, he's going to be remembered outside conservative circles primarily for the amused controversy surrounding his departure from the White House. He writes with disapproval of the flurry of 24/7 worldwide media attention following the e-mail leak, but this is part of the Washington minuet: One pretends to be dismayed by all the time one is forced to take away from one's family. We are not fooled, Frum. Since Frum also stresses the clean, clean living of the incoming Bushies, I have downgraded my review from two stars to one, owing to the fulsome, anonymous, five-star review written by "a reader in Washington, D.C." posted shortly after this book was published. Sounds like Lucy Ricardo got on line again. I recommend reading one of Frum's other books rather than this one. His work is worth a look, though he'll never succeed in dragging me over to the Dark Side with him. The way the world "should" operate looks deceptively simple to a healthy, wealthy white male, especially one who could always retreat in comfort to Canada when Washington gets blown up.
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